In late January, Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert and officials from the insurance company Mutual of Omaha announced plans to move the company’s headquarters one-and-a-half miles down the road to prime downtown real estate—at the current location of the W. Dale Clark Main Library. The plans seemed to make clear why, for months, there’d been speculation and plans to move the library’s central location, and it set off a bombshell of outrage with some community members. Our partners at NOISE captured perspectives from former librarians, activists and more who say the decision is about a lot more than a library and says something about how, and why, Omaha chooses to change.

Planning for Omaha’s New Library: A Librarian’s Perspective

By Edwin C. Schroeder | Feb. 1, 2022

W. Dale Clark Library in downtown Omaha at sunset. Photo credit Kietryn Zychal

Black People Excluded From Conversation about Omaha’s Future

By Ja Keen Fox | Feb. 2, 2022

The view from W. Dale Clark Library overlooking the Gene Leahy Mall. Citizens will lose this view when the library is torn down to make way for Mutual of Omaha’s new corporate headquarters which will not be open to the public. Photo credit: Omaha Public Library Flickr

Former W. Dale Clark Employee and Others Speak Out About Library Demolition

By Pete Fey | Feb. 5, 2022

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